She's On The Money - The Lazy Girls Guide To Financial Freedom in 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast that proves achieving financial freedom doesn't have to be all spreadsheets and self-denial. It can also involve a little bit of laziness and a lot of strategy. I'm Victoria Devine, a retired financial advisor who knows the real flex is working smarter, not harder. And today together, we're going to dive into a guide for anyone who's ever thought there has to be an easier way to do this whole money thing. This is, my friends, The Lazy Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom in 2025. It's all about getting ahead without burning out, setting up your finances to work for you, not the other way around. Think smarter strategies, streamlined habits, and just enough effort to keep your

Starting point is 00:01:37 wallet thriving while you binge your next Netflix series guilt-free. It's 2025, people. If we're not using technology to make life easier, what are you even doing? It's like having your own personal assistant, but for money. No more forgetting to transfer your savings, missing bills, or stressing about where your money went. With the tech we have now, setting up automatic payments, savings, or even investments is as easy as ordering your Friday night Uber Eats. It's time to let technology do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the things that you actually enjoy while your money works smarter in the background. So hack number one is probably my favorite on this because let's be honest, when it comes to managing money, I just want smart, simple and as little effort as

Starting point is 00:02:22 possible. So if you hear the word budget and you immediately want to have a nap, maybe this one is for you. So for me, it's about pulling everything into one spot. So I don't want lots and lots of different bank accounts, lots of different investment accounts, super and even debt in lots of different places. So our community has been doing the research and they've been looking up different ways to pull everything together because no one wants to jump between five different apps to figure out where your money is going. In our community, a really popular method of managing money is the bucket system. So from my perspective, if you already use this method to organize your money or you're using like a few different bank accounts, this one's going to be a

Starting point is 00:03:03 game changer. So lots of people in our community have started talking about WeMoney and I did my research. It does show you everything at a glance. It shows your total bank balances, your investments, your super, your debt, and honestly, even your net worth. I was really impressed. It's right there. and my favorite part is that it's in real time. It tracks your bill payments and it flags reoccurring changes and it tracks subscriptions so that you can finally see where like sneaky money leaks are happening and you can plug them for good. But like any app, the key to making it work is making sure that you're reviewing it properly, making sure that if you are using an app like this, you're going in and canceling anything that you're not using because it's

Starting point is 00:03:42 instant savings. So this is going to track it for you. So my hack number one is literally find an app that makes it smarter, simpler, and literally no effort to start setting your financial goals and tracking towards them. In fact, in this app, you can set financial goals like maybe saving for a holiday or like paying off a credit card and then directly track them in the app. And my favorite thing about that is it's all in one dashboard. No more flicking between lots of different apps to make it work. WeMoney is a tool that has just been making life simpler and our community love it. The next thing I wanted to talk about is consolidating your super. I know it's not sexy and I did promise that we would be trying to work smarter and savvier and have less

Starting point is 00:04:24 effort. I know this feels like a little bit of effort, but once you've set it up, it's set and forget. But let's talk about consolidating your super. It's kind of like Marie Kondo-ing your retirement savings. If you've worked multiple jobs, the chances of you having multiple super accounts lurking in the background, quietly draining your hard-earned money with extra fees is high. But good news is consolidating your super is super easy, no pun intended, and it can save you heaps over time. So what you need to do to consolidate your super is just log into MyGov, link your account to the ATO and use the super consolidation tool they created for us to make it easy to bring all your accounts together. They do the hard work for you. In minutes,

Starting point is 00:05:03 you're going to be cutting down on fees, simplifying your retirement savings and ensuring that your money is working harder for you, not you for it. And bonus, less accounts means less paperwork, which means less fees. And we all love that, right? The one thing I will say though, is if you're going to consolidate your super, oh, I hate to be boring, but please check your insurances on your super before consolidating because insurances inside superannuation, they're like the golden ticket, right? Like once you've got it, you've got it. But if you lose it, you can't just ask for it back. So making sure you're not leaving a super fund that might have a golden ticket insurance premium is really, really intelligent. Another thing I want to

Starting point is 00:05:43 talk about is direct debiting to your investments or to your superannuation, if that makes sense for you. It's as simple as honestly setting up extra contributions through your employer. So one thing I love about this is it's not a direct debit from your account. You're not seeing the money go into your account and then out of your account. You're setting it up at your employer level so it's like the money never existed. That means it's coming from your pre-tax income if you're contributing into your superannuation or it's being diverted to a different savings account if it's your post-tax income and this automation not only boosts your super savings and your investment savings but it also could potentially lower your taxable income

Starting point is 00:06:23 giving you a win-win situation. It's honestly really simple. All you do is ask your employer to organize either your superannuation contributions or to split your income for you gets taken directly from your salary. And it's not only going to boost you getting ahead when it comes to investment, but it could save you money at tax time if you're using the superannuation environment. Double win, right? And here's where it gets even better if you're talking about salary sacrificing into super, right? Because super contributions are typically taxed at only 15% instead of your usual marginal tax rate. Instead of handing more money over to the ATO, it's really likely that you'll get a little kickback at tax time. Whether it's 20 bucks a

Starting point is 00:07:05 week or something a little bit more ambitious, every single dollar that you put away is going to set you up for a brighter, stress-free future because compounding and tax perks are a winning duo. Your future self is going to be really grateful for 2025 you. Now, I'm going to take a really quick break because I'm lazy, but I want you to stick around because after we're going to dive into the clever ways to keep your surprise bills from absolutely ruining your budget. All right, my friends, we are back and I want to talk to you about those dreaded surprise bills, like the power bill that shows up when you're least expecting it, your rego when you completely forgot that it was meant to be payable, and the fact that insurance

Starting point is 00:07:46 is always payable in the same damn month as your red Joe. It feels like you're being kicked while you are down. Enter this idea of bill smoothing, right? It's your new budgeting bestie. So many utility providers actually give you this clever option, averaging your payment across the year so that you don't actually get stung by seasonal spikes. I am looking at you, summer air conditioning bill. Setting up bill smoothing is a straightforward way to take control of your utility expenses and avoid those dreaded seasonal spikes. So what you're going to do is you're going to contact your utility provider and ask about their bill smoothing program. Most of them have them these days. Then they're going to calculate your average usage based on the past bills that you've had

Starting point is 00:08:28 and set a predictable monthly amount. And then they're going to set it up. And once it's set up, your payments are spread evenly across the year. So you'll know exactly what to budget for for each cycle. And then what you're going to do is you're going to add in direct debit. So every single month, you're just going to direct debit this and you're all set. You don't even have to think about it again. Plus, so many providers nowadays offer annual reviews to ensure that your payments are going to stay aligned with your actual usage, which is going to keep your budget smooth and stress-free, which means if there's any extra that you've paid, it'll go as a credit towards your bill. And what does that mean? Less financial stress. The other thing I wanted to talk about,

Starting point is 00:09:08 and in 2020 thrive we are all embracing is this idea of negotiating all the time. But did you know that these days you don't even have to awkwardly talk to somebody to snag a better deal? Like you don't even have to pick up the phone and talk to a human being. You can negotiate like a pro without even having to open your mouth. Many companies now let you request discounts and switch plans or even haggle for better rates directly through their website, on their app or through online chat. It's like having the power of negotiation at your fingertips minus the sweaty palms. And do you know what my favorite part about this is? If you get awkward and you're like, oh my gosh, I don't know what to say next. ChatGPT is going to answer that for you.

Starting point is 00:09:48 You don't even have to think about your response. ChatGPT is going to have the answer. I'm actually going to make it even easier for you. And I'm going to link my resources section on the She's on the Money website where you can download scripts. And honestly, you can just cut and paste them into the chat and start there. It can't get any easier than that. It's literally me helping you negotiate to get a better deal and you don't even have to think about it. I'll pop it in the show notes for you, my friend. The next hack I've got for you, my friends, I think is an absolute game changer. Have you ever signed up for a free trial that you totally meant to cancel and then you got stung with a charge you didn't see? So I've got two things for you here. The

Starting point is 00:10:26 first is if you sign up for a free trial on your phone, you're going to go to the subscriptions tab as soon as you sign up and cancel it. And the reason you're going to do that is it will allow you to keep the trial period and then it will end at the end of the trial period instead of you having to remember to go in. The other thing is sometimes they ask you for a credit card and this solution is going to use an empty prepaid credit card for free trials. Since there's no actual money loaded onto the card, it can't be charged once the trial period ends. It's a super simple way to kind of dodge unexpected fees and keep your subscriptions in check. No more forgetting to cancel. No more surprise charges. Just stress-free trials. Money win. All right,

Starting point is 00:11:10 my friends, I feel like that's a wrap on my very short but very lazy girl's guide to financial freedom in 2025. Today, we've covered some what I would call game-changing hacks to simplify your financial life without breaking a sweat. Remember, financial freedom, it doesn't just have to mean spreadsheets and sacrifice it's all about finding systems that work for you making small very intentional choices and letting technology do the heavy lifting so you can focus on what really matters if you've loved today's episode and you want to keep building your financial confidence please don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcasting platform and hit subscribe so that you never miss an episode and while you're at it i'd love it if you shared this episode with a friend

Starting point is 00:11:52 who could use a little financial glow-up. It might even just change their life. See you soon, guys. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon

Starting point is 00:12:14 to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of MoneySherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.

She's On The Money - The Lazy Girls Guide To Financial Freedom in 2025

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